“Relax – She’s just as nervous as you are”. The words spoken by Peter O’Toole, as we waited on stage of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London for the arrival of Katharine Hepburn at our first rehearsal of THE LION IN WINTER.
At the time I was the best known actor there, after the two stars Hepburn and O’Toole – soon to be overtaken in the fame stakes by Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton. I had been working in the business by then for seven years and was reasonably confident. I had been one of hundreds of actresses who had auditioned and tested for the role of Alais, adopted daughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine, later Henry’s mistress and Eleanor’s rival….a complicated relationship. This was Tony and Tim’s first film and both shone in their roles… we knew where they were headed. Tony’s extraordinary voice and pure talent and Tim’s beauty and striking screen presence, foretold the successes to come. However on that day we were all like kids straight out of drama school, waiting for a woman, whose legendary fame preceded her.
Peter O ‘Toole was like a proud father who had gathered his brood around him, waiting to greet this legend. The film’s existence and Katharine’s acceptance to be part of it was all due to him. As the story goes, Peter had, by this time achieved the status of major star and bankability ( the star power to get a film financed). He had a diary commitment of films to make for the foreseeable future and the one he was to do next fell through. Someone had managed to get the script of THE LION IN WINTER to him and he had seen the play. He wanted to play Henry, so he signed on with the Producer Martin Poll and then virtually took charge of the casting. Peter really was a force of nature – he flew to LA ( he hated flying and it was an eleven hour journey) to personally deliver the script to Kate. And he recommended unknown director Anthony Harvey as Director. Tony Harvey had been David Lean’s Editor and after one very good short – “ Dutchman” was ready for a big one.
The Family
Peter knew that with his name and Kate’s headlining, the rest of us, including the Director, could be relatively unknown…a gamble, but a good one and helpful with the budget. Good judgement and luck continued with the talent – John Castle, Nigel Terry, and dear, solid Nigel Stock completed the main cast and we became the “family” ready to greet Kate when she arrived that day for first rehearsal. Kate arrived and we settled down to do our first “read through” – scripts and pencils ready. Kate sort of of held hers, but to our acute embarrassment, she already knew her lines and most of ours too. She had learned the whole thing long before we started. This was a an example of the real Hollywood professionalism of her day – know your lines, before you start. I remember Peter had a pretty good idea of his too and there were a lot As I recall the rest of the cast were by no means word perfect at the start of rehearsals. The next day we were!
It is unusual to have the luxury of rehearsal for a film, but it was essential in this case. The time-line required it and the dialogue. We had two weeks getting to know each other and to become a family and It paid off. The film was a success – critical for sure and box office- good for an historical, dialogue laden film. Now the THE LION IN WINTER is considered a classic – I am so happy to have been part of it.
Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton – first film.
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